The electronics industry has experienced an ever increasing demand for smaller and faster electronic devices which are simultaneously able to support a greater number of increasingly complex and sophisticated functions. Accordingly, there is a continuing trend in the semiconductor industry to manufacture low-cost, high-performance, and low-power integrated circuits (ICs). Thus far these goals have been achieved in large part by scaling down semiconductor IC dimensions (e.g., minimum feature size) and thereby improving production efficiency and lowering associated costs. However, such scaling has also introduced increased complexity to the semiconductor manufacturing process. Thus, the realization of continued advances in semiconductor ICs and devices calls for similar advances in semiconductor manufacturing processes and technology.
As one example, as pattern sizes shrink the condition of the surface to be processed can affect the quality and reliability of the device. Further, any preparation of the surface to be processed (e.g., etching, cleaning, deposition of a layer thereon) must be suitable to be maintained throughout subsequent processes if desired. As merely one example, many fabrication steps involve the formation and manipulation of thin films of material formed on a substrate or wafer. Defects, imperfections, irregularities, and contaminants in a surface upon which these materials are formed may undermine the fabrication process and may precipitously affect both yield and device performance. Existing techniques have not proved entirely satisfactory in all respects.